Apparatus for forming bottles and jars



Jan. 14, 1947.

' A. H. JOHNSON 2,414,306 APPARATUS FOR FORMING BOTTLES AND JARS Filed June 15, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Alexander HJJnhnsnn Jan. 14,1947. JOHNSON 2,414,3(56

APPARATUS FOR FORMING BOTTLES AND JARS Filed June 15, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Pa ten tecl Jan. 14, 1947 APPARATUS FOR FORMING BOTTLES AND JARS Alexander H. Johnson,

Wis.

Chicago, IlL, assignor of one-half to Frederick T. Johnson, Milwaukee,

Application June 15, 1943, Serial No. 490,842

4 Claims.

This invention appertains to containers and moreparticularly to a novel means for manufacturing bottles and jars from glass, plastic, and allied materials.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a novel means for forming bottles and jars by the use of collapsible bags or molds, whereby after the forming of the containers, the said bags or molds can be readily removed therefrom; the construction being such that various forms of neck interiors can be made to receive special type of closures (see my pending application Serial No. 482,079, filed April 7, 1943), now Patent No. 2,370,732.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide novel means for forming bottles and jars embodying inflatable preformed bags or molds with means for dipping the bags in a vat of molten glass or plastic, whereby the bottles or jars will be formed about the bags, so that the interior of the bottle and jar necks will readily take the form of the mold bags, the mold bags being readily removable from the formed bottles or jars by the mere collapsing of the bags with suction or vacuum.

In the manufacture of bottles or jars having interior closure locks and seats such as is shown in my mentioned pending application, diliiculty has been encountered in making the necessary locking grooves in the bottle necks under the methods now employed and hence it is one of the principal objects of my present invention to provide an efiicient means for making such bottles and jars with closure locks by the use of my collapsible mold bags, and to provide means for handling the mold bags whereby the bottles and jars can be quickly and economically made on a commercial basis.

A further important object of my invention is to provide novel means for forming the bag molds and for associating the bag molds with novel carriers, whereby the carriers and molds can be quickly connected to and disconnected from endless chain carriers for permitting the eflicient dipping of the molds in a vat ofthe desired material.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of mold members associated with the bags and the bag carriers for accurately forming the outer surface of the bottle or jar necks, means being provided on the machine for reversing the position of the bags and carriers after the clipping process, whereby the material adhering to the bag molds will be permitted to flow into the means associated with the carrier and bags to form the outer neck contour.

A still further object of my invention is: to provide means for forming bottles and jars by the use of collapsible bag molds and a machine for automatically dipping the bags in a vat of the desired material and then automatically reversing the position of the bags after the carrying of the bags from out of the vat.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view of a diagrammatic nature illustrating my novel method of forming the bottles and jars.

Figure 2 is an enlarged, side, elevational view of a schematic showing of the reversing of a collapsible bag and its carrier as the same leaves the clipping tank.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail, sectional View, partly in section, of the endless carrier for conveying the bags and their carriers through the machine. a

Figure 4 is an enlarged, detail, side, elevational View, partly in section, showing one of my novel collapsible mold bags and the carrier therefor with a bottle formed thereon, the section being taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Figure 5 is a top, plan view of my novel carrier for one of the bag molds.

Figure 6 is an enlarged, detail, sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5 looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating one type of means for opening and closing the exterior neck mold member.

Figure '7 he fragmentary, detail view illustrating the mold lugs on the collapsible bag for forming the locking grooves on the inner wall of the neck of the bottle or jar.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter B generally indicates one of my novel collapsible bag molds and C a carrier therefor for facilitating the association of the collapsible bags with the dipping machine D.

The dipping machine D has only been shown diagrammatically and the same includes an endless chain conveyor H1. 'This conveyor can be made up of a plurality of links H pivotally connected together by pivot pins I2. The chain is adapted to travel about sprocket Wheels I 3 advanfluid plastic or the like and any preferred means can be employed fOr maintaining the tank or vat M at the desired temperature. By referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, it can be seen that the lower run of the endless conveyor travels to the right and hence the tank M can be provided with a drip basin extension l5 which leads back to said tank or vat.

Directly above the vat a guide sprocket wheel 16 is provided for the endless conveyor so that the collapsible bags B and their carriers will be lowered into the vat and dipped into the material that is contained therein. After the bags have been dipped, the same are elevated above the vat due to the travel of the endless conveyor over the guide sprockets.

Referring in detail to the novel molding bags B and the carriers C attention i directed to Figures 4 to '7 inclusive and it will be noted that these bags include collapsible bodies I1 and necks IS. The necks l8 have. formed thereon extension sleeves l9 and these sleeves are firmly clamped between blocks 20 and 2 I, which form a, part of a carrier C. In order to provide leak proof connection between the sleeves l9 and the blocks 20 and 2|, the lower block 21 is preferably provided with an annular bead 22 over which the sleeves are stretched. The inner face of the upper block 20 is provided with a groove 23 for receiving the bead 22 and the upper edge of the sleeve l9. The blocks are connected together by bolts 24. The lower ends of the bolts carry heads 25 and the upper ends of the bolts receive winged nuts 26. Hence by tightening the nuts, the blocks can be brought into intimate contact. Particular attention is directed to the fact that the heads 25 of the bolts are provided with threaded bores, the purpose of which will be later set forth.

The bags B can be formed from any preferred material, such as Dutch Blue asbestos, and this material is particularly useful where the material from which the containers are formed is maintained in a hot condition, Woven nylon specially treated can be used for the bags where the material is formed from plastic and it is not necessary to maintain the material under high temperatures.

The bags are molded into the desired shape by the use of a master mold (not shown) and when the bags are inflated they take a desired shape.

Obviously, the bags can be molded into different sizes and configurations according to the type of bottle or jar being manufactured.

zAs heretofore stated the collapsible bags are particularly useful in making bottles and jars wherein a locking groove or bayonet slot is formed on the inside surface of the bottle neck and hence the necks ofgthe bags can be provided with radially extending lugs 21 of the correct shape for forming these grooves or slots in the bottle neck.

The carriers are provided with valved inlet pipes 28 so that these bags can be readily inflated and expanded to the correct shape.

Operating in conjunction with each bag B and each carrier C is an exterior neck mold 29. This neck mold 29 can include sliding companion mold members 3|] and 3!. V Themold members 30 and 3| are movable toward and away from one am other so that after a bottle or jar is formed, the members can be moved away from the formed bottle or jar to permit the easy removal of such bottle or jar. In the present showing the upper ends of themembers 30 and 3| carry rotatable screws 32 and these screws extends through the threaded bores of the bolt heads 25. As shown in Figures 5 and 6 the bolt heads are mounted in guide grooves 33 formed in the upper ends of the mold members 30 and 3|. Hence by turning the screws 32 the mold members can be fed toward and away from one another. In Figure 4 the mold members are provided with relatively long skirt portions 34 to shape a long necked bottle.

To facilitate the mounting of the carriers C on the endless chain conveyor H], the upper block 20 of ach carrier C is provided Witha laterally extending stub shaft 35. The outer end'of each stub shaft 35 has secured thereto a sector gear 35 and one edge of the sector gear is provided with a flat bearing surface 31, the purpose of which will also be later described.

The links H of the endless chain conveyor l0 carry split bearings 38 and by opening these split bearings 38 the stub shaft 35 of the carriers can be readily connected and disconnected with said endless chain conveyor Hi. In Figure 3 Ihave shown one section 39 of the split bearing 38 hinged, as at 40, to its link and the opposite end of the pivoted bearing section 39 can be latched in place by a rotatable latch member 4|.

The dipping machine D, at one side of the dipping tank M has rigidly secured thereto a rack bar 42 and this rack bar is arranged in the path of the sector gears 38. The rack bar also has formed on its outer end a smooth guide face 43 which is adapted to be engaged by the smooth fiat portion 3'! of the sector gears.

In use of my invention, the bags B ar assembled with carriers C and a number of the bags are inflated with the desired fluid, such as air, under compression or steam. The bags and the carriers are now associated with the endless conveyor chain If! by an operator and during the travel of the endless chain conveyor the bags will be dipped in the tank 14 and the material contained therein will coat the bags. The bags are brought one by one out of the clipping tank and as the bags and carrier approach the rack bar i2, the sector gears 36 engage the teeth of the rack bar and the carriers will be turned to an inverted position. This will allow the material which coats the bags to flow into the mold members 30 and 3! and this insures the proper forming of the bottle neck and the bead usually formed thereon. The bags and their carriers can be held in their inverted position for any length of time, as when the teeth of. the sector gears ride past the teeth of the rack bar, the smooth portion 31 thereof will engage the smooth'portion of the bar. This is clearly shown in Figure 2.

After the desired length of travel of the bags the same are removed from the endless conveyor by an operator and the coated bags are preferably stood upright in saucer shaped mold plates (not shown). This will give the bottoms of the bottles or jars a desired outer configuration.

After the bags have stood the desired length of time all air is withdrawn from the bags by a suction or vacuum pipe; This will effectively col lapse the bags and the bags can then be conveniently withdrawn from the formed bottles or jars. Before the bags are withdrawn the screws 32 are operated so as to move the mold members 30 and times in the 3| away from one another to allow these mold members to slip past the bead on the bottle neck.

Obviously, the bags can be dipped one or more vat or tank so as to coat the bags with one or more layers of material, Where more than one layer is used, a bottle or jar having shatterproof qualities can be made.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that I have provided an exceptionally simple and novel means for forming bottles and jars by infiatable bags,

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of my invention, but what I claim as new is:

1. In an apparatus for forming bottles and jars, a collapsible interior mold bag, a carrier in air tight connection with the upper end of the bag, a valve member connected With the upper end of said carrier to permit the inflation and deflation of said mold bag, and an exterior neck mold connected with said carrier including a pair of companion mold members, and means slidably associating the mold members with the carrier.

2. In an apparatus for forming bottles and jars, a collapsible interior mold bag, a carrier in air tight connection with the upper end of the bag, a valve memberconnected with the upper end of said carrier to permit the inflation and deflation of said mold bag, and an exterior neck mold connected with said carrier including a pair of companion mold members, and means slidably associating the mold members with the carrier,

6 said means including heads on the carrier provided with threaded bores and rotatable screws on the mold members received in said bores, the

mold members having guide slots to receive said 1 blocks for receiving the upper edge of the sleeve therebetween, headed bolts connecting said blocks together, a depending exterior neck mold including separable companion mold members having guide slots in the upper faces for receiving the heads of the bolts, and rotatable screws carried by the mold members threaded through the heads of the bolts.

4. In an apparatus for forming bottles and jars, a collapsible interior mold bag including a collapsible neck, a sleeve extension formed on the collapsible neck, a carrier including clamping blocks for receiving the upper edge of the sleeve therebetween, headed bolts connecting said blocks together, a depending exterior neck mold including separable companion mold members having guide slots in the upper faces for receiving the heads of the bolts, and rotatable screws carried by the mold members threaded through the heads of the bolts, and means including a valved pipe for inflating and deflating the collapsible mold bag.

ALEXANDER H. JOHNSON. 

